


Scourges and Flaying

by iatethebiscuit



Series: Biscuit's Angstfest [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle - Freeform, Scar TW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 17:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4675811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iatethebiscuit/pseuds/iatethebiscuit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps Regina didn't tell the truth, but she knew that the best lies are made up of pieces of the truth. Belle has scars, inside and out. Rumple finds out that "scourges and flaying" wasn't an exaggeration.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scourges and Flaying

He would make Belle pancakes. She hadn’t had them since he’d brought back magic, so he would surprise her with breakfast in bed. Her nights had been rough since she regained her memories. She’d dealt with her nightmares on her own, turning him away when he knocked on her door. He’d let her, he thought guiltily, because he had much bigger things to worry about. Punishing Regina, for example.

Until Emma conveniently decided to punish her for him by jumping though a portal to the Enchanted Forest. 

He was sorry for Emma, really, he liked the girl, but she’d freed up his time to focus on finding Bae and winning back Belle’s heart. He’d worked through the night on a memory potion to do the first, and now he was going to make Belle some breakfast to achieve the second.

He opened the back door, surprised to see her sitting in a chair in her nightgown. She usually wasn’t up this early. He was happy to see her though. “Hey.” He smiled.

“Hey.” She replied, getting up. She didn’t look particularly happy. “What are you doing?” 

He gestured to the fridge awkwardly as another thought struck him. He’d never seen her in this state of undress before. Her lacy nightgown clung to her in all the right places. “I was, uh...” She’d worn dresses when outside, but that really hadn’t been all that often yet. Inside, she covered herself with cardigans, like she was protecting herself. Seeing her like this was doing things to him, things that should not be happening from the mere sight of Belle in her nightgown. He was over three hundred years old, he’d seen it all. Get a grip, he told himself. “Going to make you breakfast.” He finished, turning away to grab orange juice from the fridge. He couldn’t look at her if he was going to hold a decent conversation.

“No, in... in the basement.” Gold gritted his teeth, looking firmly at the ground as he put the orange juice on the counter. Of course she’d get the wrong impression. “I saw you practicing magic.” She didn’t sound angry, just disappointed, but somehow that only made it worse. 

“Let’s have breakfast.” He suggested, eager to change the topic. She didn’t know much about Bae, and now did not seem like a good time to bring up the son he’d dropped through a portal to a strange land. That generally didn’t do much for trust, he’d found.

“No, we need to talk about this.” She said firmly.

“It was just a couple of spells. Nothing to be...” He trailed off as he turned around and got his first good look at her. He clutched his cane as he walked over to her, touching his fingers to her shoulder. Any thoughts of defending himself faded at the sight of pale pink lines traced across her skin. “Belle...” He whispered, aching to hold and comfort her, to find out who did this to her. Who had hurt her.

“It’s nothing.” She replied softly, her voice suddenly small. She stood perfectly still, as if she could still feel the wounds burning.

“This isn’t nothing.” He argued as he let his eyes explore the rest of her body. The lines extended across her back and chest, with browned bruises taunting him from under the lace edging of her nightgown. They, at least, were recent. “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She spoke quietly.

“Who did this to you?” He insisted. No matter what Belle said, this needed to be discussed. 

She looked at him, searching for something in his eyes. He tried his best to look encouraging. She swallowed thickly before speaking. “It was someone else each time. Guards, mostly. But it was always on Regina’s orders.” She looked broken, terrified, but he knew he needed to let her speak. There would be time for comforting. “When we came to Storybrooke she did it herself. She always did it herself.”

He tried to keep himself calm. Getting angry now would only make it worse for Belle. He’d control himself, even if all he wanted to do was find Regina, skin her alive, and then burn her. “What did she do?” He asked through clenched teeth.

“Rumple...”

“Please. I need to know.”

She looked dejected as she wrapped her arms around herself. “It wasn’t bad when we first arrived. She would chain me up and leave me for a few hours, but I got through it. I don’t know when, but at some point...” She closed her eyes in pain, as if reliving the moment. He stood rooted to the ground. “She told me she was punished me, that I’d failed, that I should have been Rumplestiltskin’s downfall, but I didn’t even know who you were. She said that every time you got in her way...” She wiped at her tears angrily. Her shoulders shook as she spoke, her words interlaced with frantic sobs. “Every time you got in her way, I was punished. It hurt so much. And I didn’t know what she was punished me for, so I wished you were dead, or that I was dead, so the pain would stop...”

Gold finally gave in to his instincts, pulling her close. She cried on his shoulder as tears ran down his own cheeks. Regina hadn’t lied when she came to his castle. Belle had been punished for being with him, and she’d wished herself dead. He almost threw up when he realised every time he’d thought he’d been clever, every time he thought he’d one-upped Regina, made her pay for turning his love against him, she’d tortured Belle because of it. He had been the reason for her pain. Again.

“I’m sorry.” He whimpered, pressing his lips to her neck. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“I know. It’s not your fault.” She assured him, her fingers carding through his hair as a comfort to them both. 

“I’m sorry, Belle.” He repeated. 

She pressed herself closer to him, her hands tightening in his hair. He just held her, unable to do more. He wished he could take it away, that he could turn back time, that he could give her the life she deserved. A life without him. He should have just asked for another price when he dealt with Maurice. She should not have had to pay for her father’s wrongdoings. And pay she did, that much was obvious. That was all she did when she was with him. Even when she wasn’t with him, apparently. A hand seemed to tighten around his heart as he realised what he had to do. He’d let her go, so she would be safe. Protect her from afar. Surely the heroes wouldn’t let Regina harm her again. Yes, that was the best choice. He had to keep her safe, no matter how much it would hurt him. 

“I love you.” Belle said quietly, her face still pressed against his neck. And with those few words, his resolve came tumbling down. He couldn’t let her go. No matter how selfish it was, and he knew it was, he would keep her close. He needed her. Even if she didn’t need him. 

So he tightened his hold on her as he whispered all he could. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you're wondering, I won't be continuing this unless it is prompted. So if you want more, prompt me, and it will be written!


End file.
